Not sure why but as soon as I take down the holiday décor I have this incredible need to redecorate the house. I am always moving things around on the walls or furniture from room to room. This year one of the things that we worked on was updating our home bar.
If I listed the two most used areas of our house in 2020 it would have been the kitchen and our home bar. We love to have an cocktail in the evening and between pandemic schooling the kids and never leaving the house we made a lot of cocktails in 2020.
What I really wanted to change was the amount of things we were storing on the top of it. We were going for functional and not pretty so we had a lot of bottles on the bar for easy access. I cleaned out the cabinet and only kept one bottle of each alcohol on the tray and then added all of our glasses to the shelves.
Fully functional and fun! My favorite addition was using my Grandfather’s vintage suitcase as a bar caddy.
I kept one bottle of each alcohol and then we used the suitcase for tools and decanters.
What do you need to set up a bar?
Liquor
This is an easy one. Start collecting one type of each alcohol. Start with something you like and then make a list.
- Gin
- Bourbon
- Vodka
- Tequila
- Scotch
- White Wine
- Red Wine
- Something sparkling
Extras:
- Chambord
- Triple Sec
- Vermouth
Glasses
We have so many glasses. We both like cocktail glasses so it was easy to rack up a ton. Here are the ones we have. ( I am linking similar glasses on each item.)
- Pilsner
- Tulip Wine
- Balloon Wine
- Champagne Flutes or Coupes
- Stemless Wine
- Highball
- Rocks
- Martini
- Beer Mugs
- Mint Julep
- Brandy Snifer
Tools
Just a few simple things will get your bar ready.
Accessories
Accessories will make your bar a little more fun and interesting.
What to Make?
Now that you have a bar set up what are you going to make? Here are a few of our favorite cocktail recipes…
- Mint Julep
- Brandy Milk Punch
- Pineapple Coconut Margarita
- Blackberry Gin and Tonic
- Boozy Bourbon Cherries
Cheers!
Tiffany
I love the use of the vintage suitcase with sentimental value. What a way to add character to a well-used space. And you’re right about the cocktail making in 2020…ha! Pretty sure that applies to this year too! Great post Tiffany…